The Influence of Great
Legal Administrators

Successful legal professionals harness the power of relationships,
networking, office politics, and new ideas to drive success in their
organizations.

During my 20-plus years of working within law firms and almost a decade of serving law firms from
the outside, professional law firm managers have impressed me most by their abilities to have
influence well beyond the scopes of their job descriptions.
Being a legal administrator can sometimes be a lonely job – neither part of the partnership nor part
of the staff. Successful legal administrators leverage their networks to find ideas, support, guidance,
and mentoring. The stories showcased in this article reveal how legal administrators can position
themselves as strategic assets in an ever-challenging legal industry landscape.

Understand the Business: The Power of Knowing your Client

Who is your client? Knowing clearly who your client is
within a complex organization quickly earns you credibility.
It also provides clarity as you analyze situations and make
recommendations and decisions.

Kathy, a Manager of Human Resources in a mid-sized
law firm, was completely confident that her clients were
the assistants. Her role, she said, was to provide the
assistants with what they needed: to schedule their
vacations, to counsel them, attend to their payroll and
benefits administration – that kind of thing. She was
focused on their needs, and they were loyal to her.

by Karen MacKay, MBA, CHIC
President

Kathy didn’t understand that her client was really the
firm – the lawyers who were the front line with their
clients. She didn’t know who the firm’s clients were or
when there were large transactions in the firm. She also
couldn’t anticipate staffing needs, with her composure
tested by last-minute requests and credibility doubted
when she left matters under-staffed.

What could Kathy have done to be more successful? She
could have learned from her colleagues to get a sense of where
the activity was in the firm. She could have spoken with
lawyers who seemed to be driving activity in an effort to
anticipate their needs, and then put staff in place to support
activities that generate revenue for the firm. By doing so, she
could have earned credibility with both lawyers and staff.

Clients’ No. 1 complaint is that lawyers don’t take the
time to understand their business. Meanwhile, lawyers’
No. 1 complaint is that staff members don’t understand
what drives their business. In turn, administrators’ No. 1
complaint involves the challenges they face in trying to
serve their firms as their primary clients when 80 partners
all claim to be the most important client.

Successful legal professionals take the time to understand
the business. They know what drives revenue, what levers
impact profit, and look beyond their functional areas to view
the bigger picture.

Being Successful as a law firm administrator requires a lot of confidence and no ego.

Political Savvy: The Power of Getting Things Done

Successful people are politically savvy. They know who has
influence and how to get things done. Other really smart
people still can fail because they are not politically astute.

Jennifer, a Marketing Director, joined a law firm after
working for about five years in a corporate environment,
where the top-down management structure allowed – and,
in fact, encouraged – roll-outs with lots of fan fare. Prior to
a roll-out everything was a big secret – much like new car
designs at auto shows, where the vehicles are covered with
fabric until the drum roll sounds and they are unveiled
with great drama and showmanship.

Jennifer thought this same style would work in a law
firm. She and her group worked tirelessly to develop the
firm’s new identity package – letterhead, marketing materials, golf shirts for everyone, business cards for all –
with everything to be launched with considerable fanfare,
yet still kept very secret. She worked with a small committee
of the partnership, but she neither consulted partners with
influence nor collaborated with senior administrative
management to make them feel part of a team. Poor
Jennifer never recovered – she got the politics all wrong.

Jim had a much more politically successful approach.
Jim was the senior administrator in a 15-office firm. He
understood the politics in his law firm very clearly and had
a great technique for getting things done.

Jim never “rolls” anything out. Instead, he utilizes
small “pilot groups,” in which lawyers in the firm are invited
to participate to try out something new. Jim appealed
to their intellect by asking for their feedback and to their
egos by making them feel like they were part of a special
group. Ultimately, he got “buy-in” because he made them
feel like they had a hand in developing solutions for the
firm. Jim understands the politics, understands his client,
and gets things done.

Reading: The Power of New Ideas

Most successful people are voracious readers. Oprah
Winfrey once said she knew from a very early age that
she could “out-read just about anyone,” which was and
continues to provide a foundation for her success.

When TLOMA member Ken retired after 17 years with
a Toronto law firm, the partners “roasted him” at a dinner.
They said that one of the things they would miss the most
about Ken was that he was “the firm’s official reader” –
reading business books that the lawyers had neither the
time nor the interest in pursuing. He was always
gathering new ideas and floating them – testing them –
trying to apply them to the law firm.

People who read gather ideas. They shuffle them and
build on them, and new ideas are formed.

The most successful people are not necessarily the most brilliant,
but they are the most persistent. They set goals and go after them
with great intentions. They learn new skills and are prepared to do
things poorly in order to get better.

Another favorite political success story involves David,
who says “in 20 years in this firm I’ve never had a
good idea.” His style is one of quiet conversation. He
gives partners ideas to consider and gets them talking
amongst themselves. He nurtures both the partners and
the ideas until good approaches bubble to the surface. His
style is to make sure that the partners come up with the
ideas, and then David breathes life into them. David gets
things done.

David, Jim, and Jennifer were all highly capable of
working in a complex organization. They all had great
communication skills and creativity, and all showed
leadership in their own ways. Jennifer, however, wasn’t
sensitive to the context of a law firm. What they had in
common is the ability to generate new ideas – which makes
sense because they are all readers.

Keep Growing: The Power of Learning

What is the difference between participating in life and
observing it? Observers watch other people take risks,
learn new skills, or face their fears. Meanwhile, participants
get out there and do things. They push their boundaries,
learn new skills, take risks, and learn a lot about themselves
and others.

The most successful people are not necessarily the most
brilliant, but they are the most persistent. They set
goals and go after them with great intentions. They learn
new skills and are prepared to do things poorly in order to
get better.

It is easy to stick to what you know. It is much more
difficult to question ways of doing things in your law firm
because it means change, creates challenges, and requires
more personal energy. Push your limits, gather new ideas from what you read, and create change in your law firm. It
keeps you fresh, engaged, and one step ahead of the law
firm you serve, but also helps you to set boundaries and
have a sense of control.

Saying No: The Power of Taking Control

How often do you feel out of control? Taking control means
learning to say no!

Susan, an administrator of an 800-lawyer firm with
several offices, was confident, assertive, and had an uncanny
ability to manage her priorities. Her office was clearly
occupied by a busy person who had several major projects
in progress. Nevertheless, Susan always had an open door – she always had time for people, but she never took their
problems onto her back. She would listen to the problem
and would always give people three choices: Do you just
want to vent? Do you want to talk through some solutions?
Do you want me to act on this? Almost always people just
wanted to vent. Sure, there were things that required
Susan’s action, but many didn’t. In a way, she didn’t really
have to say no because she gave people options.

Bob, on the other hand, said yes to just about everything,
and when a partner turned up at his door with a problem,
his standard response was “leave it with me.” Bob was
buried in paper, projects, and other people’s problems. Bob
was unable to plan his time effectively or to set priorities.
He was out of control and lacked confidence because he
would not or could not say no.

Sometimes saying no requires courage; it means standing
alone, supported only by your values. Nicole, a Human
Resources Manager in her firm, was concerned when her
new managing partner wanted to fire the firm’s receptionist.
He wanted someone younger and, in his view, more attractive
to greet the firm’s clients. This is but one of a list of things
Nicole was directed to do. Her values, her ethics, and
indeed the law told her this wasn’t right, but she really felt
that she was standing alone. She was prepared to quit – but
she held her ground and said no.

The better you are at saying no, the more you are in
control at the office. In turn, you’ll need more help from
your “network,” your support base, and your friends.

Nurture Your Relationships: The Power of Your Network

Networking is essentially an exchange of resources. The
currency of networking in business is economic – things
such as money, information, and services.

The currency between friends is often emotional –
friends work together, play together, travel together, and
support each other. They celebrate your successes and pick
you up when you’re down.

Unsuccessful people activate their networks only when
they need something. This form of networking is insincere
and gratuitous. For successful people, networking is like
breathing. They are sincere; they know networking is more
about giving than taking, and they don’t keep score.

Nowhere is networking more active and successful than
in the many associations within and surrounding the legal
community. The 12 global organizations that co-sponsor
Professional Legal Management WeekSM (PLMW)
publications and events are lifelines for many law firm
administrators. As a new administrator in a new city many
years ago, my business network through the Toronto Law
Office Management Association (TLOMA, now known as
The Law Office Management Association) helped to ground
me in the job, in the community, and in my new city.

Self Preservation: The Power of Taking Care of Yourself

People who look after themselves have a presence when
they walk into a room. They exude confidence and send out
signals that they are worthy of your attention.

Anne looks after herself first. She attends aerobics
classes, she always has a great haircut, and she combats
stress by taking occasional days off to go to a spa or simply
read a book. Anne’s approach really works for her – at work
and at home. When she walks into a boardroom at the
office she exudes confidence. She is brilliant and articulate,
but she has credibility before she even speaks. She is
worthy of her colleagues’ confidence and attention.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth puts her children first, her job
second, her community service third – and so on. Like any
great mom, she’ll make sure her kids make it to every
activity and have the best clothes and the most up-to-date
hair styles – but she doesn’t have time for herself. Elizabeth
has credibility problems with her colleagues; the other
administrative managers in her firm and the partners see her
as lacking confidence and a presence. If she is not worthy of
her own attention – a haircut, a manicure, and properly
pressed clothes – how is she worthy of their attention?
Elizabeth makes sure her staff members have what they
need, and she has so much work that she often doesn’t eat
all day. By about 3 p.m., her blood sugar is so low that she
snaps at her secretary and at a young lawyer who asks her a question. In turn, she has a reputation for being really hard
to work with. Perhaps she is, but she might be less so if she
took time to look after herself.

Compare these two women and learn from them. If you
don’t look after yourself, you won’t have anything to give.
Think about juggling five balls in the air: your health,
family, friends, spirit, and job. Four of these balls are made
of glass and one of rubber – if you lose your job or change
jobs, you can always bounce back. If you crack or break
your health, family, friends or spirit, it is much harder to
get those back.

The Definition of Success

Success ultimately means different things to different
people. What’s clear, though, is that the most successful
legal administrators possess levels of influence well beyond
their job descriptions.

Being successful as a law firm administrator requires a
lot of confidence and no ego. Your success is not measured
by the widgets you produce; instead, it is directly correlated
to the influence you have on other people.